Dragon Valley part 3

................Part 3: A promise… a word of a RedDragon.......1

“Ouch! Damn!” Joanna heard exclamations and swearing out of her fire-tent. She hurried out. Marin was waving with his hand as though it was burning in flame…2

“Is this true fire?” he asked.3

“Of course it is,” Joanna yawned avoiding Marin’s eyes. “What did you think it was? A trick or something?”4

“But you… you have slept in there,” Marin continued his stupefaction. 5

“So what?” Joanna inquired. She waved her hands in a circular direction and the tent vanished leaving a string of smoke rising up from the ground. “Fire is the RedDragons’ element. We can use it easily and it does not cause any harm to us.”6

Licking his finger, Marin said, “We have to go to the nearest city to get breakfast.”7

“Yep,” Joanna agreed. She spread her arms and the dragon mark on her palm started shining…8

“What are you doing?” Marin inquired. 9

“Changing my out fit,” fleered Joanna. “You didn’t think I will be wondering around like a RedDragon, did you.”10

“Well… actually…”11

“They are going to catch me once they see me,” Joanna said with slight anger.12

“Then put this on,” and he gave her a green cloak with a hood. 13

“What is the difference?” asked Joanna, examining the cloak that had an unpleasant smell. “I can change…”14

“It is not about that!” Marin said and helped her put the cloak on. “You have to have dignity… You have to be proud to be of your kind… You have to be proud to be a RedDragon.”15

“It can get me killed,” stated Joanna but she did not argue anymore. She put the cloak on. They stepped on the trap and started walking to the north.16

“You are not using your powers for defense anyway…” started Marin. “You are not defending yourself from so-called death. Even the first time we met, you did not try to use any magic…”17

“It is complicated,” Joanna tried to end this subject.18

“I’ll understand,” Marin remarked.19

Joanna bestowed a furious look upon Marin and said, “My magic… I can’t use it against… um… certain people.”20

“And I am one of the certain?” asked Marin. “Why is that?”21

“Don’t worry, it’s not because I wanted to make your suffering last longer,” Joanna thought in her mind and immediately looked at Marin. She asked him with fear, “Are you reading my mind right now?”22

“What? No. Should I?” Marin asked.23

“No… I am just asking.” She immediately returned to the first subject, “I cannot cast my magic when I am in disguise. And when I cast a spell it maybe very powerful but still useless against swords…”24

After a while of silent walking, Marin said, “But this is not the real reason, is it?” Joanna looked at him with a question mark on her face. “You wanted to die, didn’t you?”25

“But…”26

“Your family was killed and you managed to escape,” he said. “And now you want to join with them… You were afraid but still you wanted to die…”27

“How do you know that?” whispered Joanna and a tear slid down her cheek. 28

She was a small kid when her parents and her sister were killed. It happened at night. She was sleeping in her room and suddenly she heard disturbing noise. She got up and saw ten men getting into their garden. They entered the house and a tremendous fight started between the two kinds. Joanna saw her parents die. Joanna’s older sister took her and they ran into the forest. Joanna’s sister was injured and soon died in the forest…29

“And I know that BlueHearts were the ones that killed your family. And you know that too,” continued Marin. “I know everything that happened. But this doesn’t explain why you didn’t try to kill me…”30

“Because I wanted to die from the same sword my parents died from!” sobbed Joanna. Her eyes were shining in a dreadful red colour. “I saw your sword entering my father’s chest… I saw it kill him! But I have promised my sister that I will never seek revenge… because we are a noble race… We don’t use magic in revenge or in evil… I gave a word!” She fell on the ground and her thin fingers entered the soil from the pain and anger. “Once I saw your sword I remembered that day… But I couldn’t use magic because I gave a word! I couldn’t kill you!”31

“It wasn’t me,” Marin whispered and put his hand on Joanna’s shoulder. “It was my father. It is my father’s sword. And I think that what he did was wrong… This is why I went to the Dragon Valley. This is why I was looking for the last RedDragon left in this world.”32

“Don’t touch me!” sobbed Joanna and pushed away Marin’s hand. 33

She stood up. Her eyes were shining in red light… She closed her eyes and red light rays emitted from her body and tore the cloak, that covered her red dress, apart. Marin hesitated and shielded his eyes as the light was blinding. Joanna rose up in the air and a red tear came out of her eye. She raised her hand and pointed the dragon mark at Marin.34

“You can’t!” Marin shouted. “You gave your word!”35

“I don’t care anymore…”36

She remembered the first day she met him… a BlueHeart. They were in the forest… alone. She thought that he wanted to kill her but he didn’t. She had the opportunity to kill him… She had a knife leaned to his throat… but she didn’t do it. And when he left without causing any harm, Joanna started crying… She saw that dreadful night again… the night her parents were killed…37

Joanna gathered all powers she could have and thought in her mind, “I am sorry sister, I couldn’t keep my promise. I am sorry…”38

A red ray launched from her palm…39